Annual ritual: Thousands take part in Muharram processions

Main Ashura procession underway, to culminate at Karbala Gamay Shah this evening.

LAHORE: Thousands of mourners took part in the main Muharram 9 procession starting at Nisar Haveli on Monday evening to commemorate the martyrdom of Hazrat Iman Hussain (RA) at Karbala.

Men loudly beat their chests and whipped themselves with chains as Shia faithful gathered at Nisar Haveli. Maulana Shajar Hussain Shajar and Maulan Asad Johari, the son of Talib Johari, spoke at the Majlis-i-Aza.

The gates of the vast Nisar Haveli, a property spread over 16 kanals, were closed at 6pm due to a lack of space. People huddled in the narrow streets around the haveli to hear the speeches at the majlis, broadcast by loudspeakers. Organisers set up two giant LCD screens at Imambargah Dar-i-Batool Tahira and at Hussainia Hall so people could watch the events at Nisar Haveli.

The procession will go to Haveli Wajid Shah, Imambargah Khawaja Idrees Hyder, Imambargah Dar-i-Batool Tahira and Imambargah Nawab Sahib Mohallah Shian, where the mourners will rest for an hour at around Fajr time. The procession will then resume, travelling to Zunjir Zanni, Chohatta Mufti Baqir, Masjid Wazir Khan, Sonehri Masjid, Sarrafa Bazaar, Tehsil Bazaar, Androon Bhati Gate and, finally, Karbala Gamay Shah at the time of Maghrib prayers on Tuesday.

Agha Shah Hussain Qizilbash, who headed one of the management committees for the procession, said the procession from Nisar Havaili was started by Nawab Feroz Ali Khan Qizilbash in 1836. “Every year, the number of people coming here increases. Thousands of mourners are served food here, including soup, haleem, biryani, naan and qorma,” he said,

Ebad Ali Gardaizi, a Defence resident who has moved into his old family home near Nisar Haveli for the first 10 days of Muharram, said that he had invited all his friends and relatives to the house to hear the majalis in the area today. “Almost every house in the Mochi Gate area has arranged for langar,” said the retired PSO employee. “There are hundreds of imambargahs here.”

Earlier, hundreds of mourners took part in two big processions starting at Pando Street, Islampura, and Nicolson Road yesterday. The former procession went past the Secretariat, Khaima-i-Sadat and then Jain Mandir. After listening to speeches, the mourners returned via the same route.

A total of 3,644 majalis held on Muharram 9 in the Punjab, according to statistics collected by law enforcement agencies.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 6^th, 2011.